Help

Hey everyone, I recently got quite a bit of pu erh but unfortunately I cant get breaking it up right. When I break it up I try and break into large chunks but I still get quite a bit of broken leaves and a cloudy brew, especially on the really hard touchas. Any help would be appriciated. Thanks!

Some cakes are harder than others, and tuochas are usually the worst. I have taken a hammer and chisel to a tuocha on more than one occasion, though I'm sure that there must be a better way.

As for the clarity of the liquor, if the leaves of the cake are very broken (often the case) or if you break them a lot while separating them, you can get a cloudy brew. I always use a special little filter designed for puerh tea.

Cloudiness can be caused by a lot of things, including how you our your water (and what's in your water). Generally speaking, if your breaking of the tea involves a lot of mess... it's more likely to come out a bit cloudier.